Government Plans To Set Up The Country's First Vedic Education Board

In a bid to encourage Vedic learning, the government is planning to set up its own school board. According to the Indian Express, the HRD ministry is planning to establish an examination board under the Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Vidya Pratishthan (MSRVVP) in Ujjain.

This will be the country’s first Vedic education board. According to the report, this will be a fully-funded autonomous body under the HRD ministry that will conduct programmes to promote the Vedas.

To set up the board, a five-member government panel has suggested an initial fund of Rs 6 crore.

The NDA government had rejected a similar proposal moved by yoga guru Ramdev recently. Ramdev's proposal was rejected after school education secretary, S C Khuntia, said that the state’s sanction for a private board would open the doors for similar requests from other unrecognised school boards.

The Vedic Education Board intends to be similar to CBSE. The decision to set up the board was taken after recommendation of Sanskrit experts and gurukuls at a meeting attended by Smriti Irani's advisor.

According to the report, the board will also help in setting up new schools that will teach Veda and Sanskrit as major subjects. Other subjects will be 'minor.'

Around 10,000 students are currently studying Ved Vidya in India. The government estimates that an additional 40,000 students may join after the board is set up.